Curiosity
by TruffleHead
Summary: Loki was a very curious child; every day held new wonders that he just /needed/ to find out. But life has a funny way of going about things. One thing that held Loki's curiosity more than anything else was the one thing that he was sure he could never have: love.
1. Curiosity

Loki is a creature practically _made_ of curiosity.

As a child, he would often go sneaking into places the Allfather had specifically forbidden him _not _to go sneaking into... simply because the curiosity was too great to resist doing so.

Loki also loved to play tricks on people- he was curious to see what their reactions would be and how each person's personality would affect their response. He was also curious of his own abilities; he liked to test how far he could push himself. Loki liked to push his limits of troublemaking to see how much chaos he could cause before Father found out.

Of course, Father always _did _find out eventually- as far as Loki was concerned, there wasn't a thing that Father _didn't _know- but he didn't really mind the punishments. Loki had always learned something about his limits. And he would always try to beat whatever previous record he had set the next time he set off to go do his mischief.

It wasn't long- Loki had only just turned six- before he had earned his title. His silvertongue, mixed, of course, with his curiosity, had dubbed him the God of Mischief and Lies. Loki didn't mind the title so much, but he didn't like when people whispered about it.

Whispering was bad; Thor had said so once when Loki had tried to whisper something to Volstagg. Loki _knew _that whatever Thor says is always true, so why were people whispering so much about the castle?

Naturally, Loki intended to find out. Eventually, he decided to test out a new invisibility spell of his and go eavesdrop on a pair of them.

Stepping out into the gardens, Loki smiled, content in knowing that no one had a clue that he was there. He saw two older ladies whispering over by the trees, and silently crept closer to them, until he was within earshot. He kept behind a tree, too, just in case.

"He's such a bad influence on the other children." One of the women was saying to the other.

"Did you hear Thor had been caught _stealing _things from the kitchen the other day?"

"Loki had probably been teaching him some of his tricks."

"Likely, yes. The Allfather really needs to come to his senses and separate the two, honestly."

"I agree... a God of Thunder really has no business going about-"

Loki let the invisibility spell drop and sunk down into the grass. _They are going to make Thor go away? No! _Loki thought, _They can't! Thor is my brother. He likes to play with me and he thinks I'm going to be a good warrior someday, even though Sif and the others think I'm too weak. I am not a bad influence, I promise..._

Thor said that crying was for babies, so Loki scrunched up his face best he could to avoid letting the tears fall, and furiously wiped them away when the drops disobeyed him.

Fully sobbing now, tiny six-year-old Loki brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them so he wouldn't make too much noise. He hoped nobody would notice him.

Turns out he got his wish, too; nobody found Loki until the next day, and that was a servant sent by Father to bring him back and give him a good scolding.

He didn't stop being curious, though. Loki _always _thought up new things to be curious about, and he learned to just ignore the whispers- or even the shouting, when it grew to be that bad.

One thing that sparked his curiosity more than anything else, though, was _love_. What _did _it feel like to love someone? It had hit him out of the blue one day that he, in fact, had no idea.

That's when the overwhelming feeling of curiosity sets in.

As a mere boy of twelve Asguardian years at the time, his first reflex was to consult the library's books, which had already become his dearest friends.

_Love (n.) _

There were many entries for the word, but the one that sparked his interest the most was the first one.

_1. A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person._

Instantly, he knew he wanted this. Whatever 'love' was, he desperately wanted to feel it inside of him. He wanted somebody to feel a 'tender, passionate affection' towards _him_. Just the _thought _made his toes start to tingle.

_Am I allowed, though? Are there any rules to love? _He wondered. _I know I am smart, and Mother tells me I am handsome; is there someone out there who really _would _love me? _

He wondered if he was good enough, though, even then. By now, he was smart enough to know that there were few outside the castle who didn't either fear him or think him a bad example for the other gods.

Furrowing his brow, Loki looked closer at the inked letters, and let out a small shriek of delight.

_2. A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection as for a parent, child, or friend._

_I am Odin's son, does that not entail that he could love me? _Loki thought to himself. Glowing with pride at his discovery, and at the newfound feeling that he might be loved, Loki hurriedly set the cast the dictionary aside and rushed off to Valaskjalf, where he was sure he could find the Allfather.

However, when he _did _enter the grand hall, he found only Thor, Sif, and The Warriors Three huddled over a chest, kicking it and pounding on it with their fists.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed, noticing his presence. "You must help us; we have need of your magic!"

"For what cause?" Loki said, a little bit suspicious of their activities. Usually, whenever Thor ordered 'jump', all Loki would ask would be 'how high?', but ever since an incident with the cook, for which Loki had received all the blame and a very angry Allfather, he had learned to be a little bit more cautious.

Thor laughed, "You see this chest, brother? Volstagg heard that there are _real _swords in here. If we are to be true warriors one day, we must cease sparring with petty wooden ticks and such!"

"The operative word being 'we', not 'you'." Sif muttered under her breath.

"Sif! You know quite well that my brother has just as much potential to become as fierce of a warrior as you will be." Thor said.

"Not if he keeps his nose stuck in those silly little books of his all day."

"Nonsense. That is the end of this conversation." Thor said to Sif, who immediately bowed a head. The God of Thunder then turned to Loki. "Will you open it? "

Loki sighed. He _had _been hoping for a chance to prove himself to the others. Anyway, he, too, was curious to see these 'real' swords. "Very well. Stand back," Loki said with a little smirk; he saw the expressions of awe already starting to form on all of their faces.

Crouching down and facing the large chest, he held out his hands and started to call upon the correct runes. A large ball of pure energy started to build up there. Once Loki was satisfied with its size, he sent it hurtling towards the chest.

Things went downhill from there.

The impressive glowing sphere hit the chest alright, but it rebounded. Loki cursed himself; shouldn't he have noticed that some sort of protective spells were placed around it? If _Thor _couldn't get it open, then surely- his thoughts were stopped abruptly as the magic bounced off the wall, leaving a large burn mark and shattering the mirror.

Bouncing off another three walls, the sphere managed to rip half the curtains off the wall, turned over a total of eleven chairs, and created a scary amount of large scorch marks. Loki attempted several times to disarm the ball, but they all failed.

He was running out of time, too, because it bounced off a fourth wall and started to hurtle at an alarming speed to a very, very frightened Sif. She barely had time to scream, let alone move, before the two collided.

Sif cried out and then collapsed. Loki, along with the others, ran over to her pale, twitching form.

"She must have absorbed all the energy..." Loki thought aloud, reaching out with a hand to touch her, but Sif must still have been partly conscious, because her eyes fluttered open and she gasped, her voice pained,

"Get _away _from me!"

Loki quickly withdrew and said, "It's alright, Sif, I can right this. I just- I just need-"

A shrill, terrorized scream echoed around the large hall. Whirling around, Loki was faced with one of the very same women he had eavesdropped on all those years ago. Loki had a very good memory; he was sure it was her.

But, right now, he didn't really dwell on that. "Call upon the healers," Loki said to the woman, but it had elicited no response; she merely kept staring at moning Sif. "Now!" Loki yelled; didn't she this was urgent? After a moment, she ripped her eyes away and hurriedly left the room.

Loki didn't know what to do, but he did know a spell that would lessen the pain. Quickly muttering the correct runes, Sif stopped moaning, but she was still a very sickly color and kept twitching with all the energy she had absorbed.

"You're going to be all right, Sif," Loki heard Thor comfort Sif, although Loki knew that her condition was worsening and she couldn't even hear him.

Loki twitched his fingers impatiently and did the only thing he could do: waited.

About a half minute later, in came the healers, and one person Loki didn't expect: Frigga, the Queen herself.

"Mother?" Loki called quietly; he wasn't a fool. He knew what he was in for.

"Odin calls for you." She responded. Loki didn't have to look hard to see the disapproval on her face.

"Mother, I know that this looks-" Loki tried to say.

"Loki, this is _not _the time! Did you _see _what you have done? Your father is waiting for you just outside. Now, Loki!"

Loki quickly complied.

A lot of scolding and a whole lot of yelling later, Loki slumped back into his room, where he was told he must remain for the rest of the day.

Well, at least that answers one of his questions.

_"Loki, you are a boy of only twelve years old, and we are prepared to forgive you for your mistakes that will, inevitably, occur._

_But when it comes to _harming _other people, it goes beyond forgiving, or even punishment._

_You have become a disgrace to this family, Loki, and I will _not _have it."_

Father must not love him. But that was okay... Loki wiped his hand across his eyes and told himself that it didn't matter; there were plenty of other gods in Asguard.

Gods that liked him, though? That might have been a little slimmer of a list. In fact, it had gotten down to only a few...

As if on cue, Thor dropped out of the ceiling- he was looking a little dazed, but a victorious smile was spreading across his face.

Loki let out a little less-than-manly shriek and jumped backwards, but when he saw it was only his brother, he said urgently, "Thor, what are you doing? You have no business here! When Father sees-"

"Silence, Loki, I've something to ask you." Thor said, his eyes still shining from his little 'adventure' through the air ducts.

Loki was quiet for a moment, looking Thor in the eyes, but then added softly, "I as well."

"Well, actually, not really. The others just said that they bet I couldn't get over to you." Thor said, pride still widening his smile.

Loki looked over his shoulder, as if he expected someone to appear. "Thor, really, you should go before Father-"

"Loki. Stop it." Loki stopped. "What was it you wanted to ask me, anyhow?"

Loki, suddenly nervous for some reason, looked at the ground. "Well, something had spiked my curiosity of late-"

Thor laughed. "Is there a time things do not spike your curiosity?" With another chuckle, he added, "Carry on, brother."

"Do you love me, Thor?" Loki said tentatively.

Thor laughed again and stood up, brushing the dust off of his clothes. "Loki, I have told you this before, and you will do good to remember it: a _true _warrior does not concern himself with such emotions!"

Loki nodded softly. He was pretty sure _he _loved Thor, but if that wasn't what he wanted, then he'd just have to try his best not to show it.

Thor climbed back into the air duct (with the assistance of Loki's shoulders), and Loki continued his sulking.

**FIVE YEARS LATER**

"Brother! Brother!" Thor's deep voice called from behind Loki, and he turned around quickly to address him.

"What in the world is it _now_, Thor?" Loki said, late already for his lesson that day.

Thor came up to him, a little breathless and obviously excited. What in the world was so urgent? "Loki, I have good news!" Loki raised an eyebrow, so Thor continued.

"Sif and I- we're betrothed!"

"You're getting _married_?" Loki nearly shouted, his face hurt and surprised. Wasn't it Thor _himself _that had said that love was a petty emotion that you shouldn't concern yourself with? That it only made a warrior weak?

Thor recoiled a little, "What is it brother? Why are you upset so?"

"I'm not- I'm just late. I need to go." Loki turned and walked quickly down the hall.

Why has nobody found _me _worthy of their love? Surely- surely if someone loves _Thor_-

The overwhelming and intolerable curiosity mixed with the despair at being unwanted drove Loki to the point of insanity.

Waiting and watching, but never finding anyone that would accept him, in a romantic sense, into their heart.

Well, that is, until he met Sigyn. But that's an entirely different story now, isn't it?

Good thing I've got a lot of time.

**=^..^= TruffleHead**

**Another story titled "Empathy Shmempathy" will be posted soon containing the rest of the plot where Loki meets Sigyn. :) **

**You can read it if you like; if not, here is yet another hug. *hug* I hope you feel special! XD**


	2. Empathy

**Empathy Shmempathy is now posted if you guys were interested. :)**


End file.
